Jessica sets up a volleyball net in her backyard. To secure the net in place, she extends a rope from the top of each of the two poles at a diagonal to the ground. Once the poles are placed in the ground, they are 7 feet tall; the rope she uses is 9 feet long. Using the inverse of sine, what is the approximate angle formed between the ground and the rope?
45°
45°
51°
51°
90°
90°
39°
The inverse sine function (sin^(-1)) gives the angle whose sine is a given value. In this case, we want to find the angle formed between the ground and the rope. The opposite side is given as 7 feet (height of the poles) and the hypotenuse is given as 9 feet (length of the rope). To find the angle, we can use the formula sin^(-1)(opposite/hypotenuse).
Using the formula, we have sin^(-1)(7/9) ≈ 51.34°. Rounded to the nearest degree, the angle is approximately 51°.
Therefore, the correct answer is 51°.